The present invention relates generally to support devices for elongate tools or tool heads such as the small burs used by dentists. More specifically, the invention concerns such a device that, when lidded, protectively supports the tools and optionally permits sterilized cleaning thereof and, when unlidded, presents the tools for easy removal by popping open and splaying the tools in a frustoconical array. The invention will be described in a preferred embodiment to be particularly useful with tools such as dental burs.
Dental burs are tiny drill or auger bits which are used by dentists in combination with high speed drills to administer dental procedures. These procedures include the drilling and filling of cavities resulting from tooth decay. The burs are very small and they come in many shapes. For instance, to enable a dentist to perform intricate site-specific excavation, a minute drill point may be required. Alternatively, to perform relative large-scale excavation, a larger point or drill tip may be required.
Typically, these burs are characterized as having cylindrical bottom portions. The cylindrical bottoms are usually received in and fixedly secured in the drill's chuck. Thereafter, various drilling procedures may be undertaken. Because a dentist may require a number of different burs during any one procedure, it is desirable to store the burs in a central location, such as a bur holder. It is also desirable to be able to conveniently and easily access the burs throughout the administration of a dental procedure. It is of paramount importance that the burs remain in a clean, sterilized condition. Having many densely packed burs in a holder increases the chances that a bur will be inadvertently contacted and thereby contaminated.
Thus, it is desirable to have a device which centrally holds or stores dental burs and presents them, on demand, in a fashion which greatly reduces the chances of inadvertent contamination and facilitates their extraction from the holder.
Conventional tool support devices may be characterized as follows. U.S. Pat. No. 4,327,060, entitled "STERILIZING-CONTAINING DEVICE FOR DENTAL TOOLS" issued to Nisii, discloses an open top container for receiving a dental tool support in the form of an open-bottom cylinder provided with threads around its upper and lower ends which are engaged in threads in the upper end of the container. The open-bottom cylinder is provided with plural bores into which various dental burs are received. The burs are received such that their top portions, or drill heads, remain within the container, in a substantially vertical orientation relative to the base of the container. Removing the burs from the container is complicated by the fact that only a short portion of each bur's cylindrical shaft rises above the cylinder. This is undesirable because the burs are presented for removal in a crowded configuration. Moreover, only a small portion of each entire bur is presented for removal. This is undesirable because, while one bur is removed, another adjacent bur may be inadvertently plucked thereby increasing the chances of, among other things, contamination.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,978,110 entitled "RACK-LIKE HOLDER FOR SMALL ARTICLES" issued to Haskins discloses a case with a hemispherical holder body for holding articles such as dental drills. Specifically, Haskins discloses a cylindrical holder having a base, a cover, and a holder body disposed within the base having plural fingers for holding articles such as dental drills, pencils, lipsticks, and spools of thread. The body may be flexed inwardly or outwardly after the manner of a diaphragm. Centrally disposed on the holder is a stem which extends upwardly. When the cover is closed, the holder is collapsed within the base with a bottom portion thereof resting on the base. When the cover is removed, the stem may be grasped by the user and the holder pulled upwardly to extend it outwardly from the base wherein the articles held in the fingers are exposed and accessible.
Haskins discloses, in one embodiment (see FIG. 5), a coil spring interposed between the base and the holder to prevent the diaphragm from resting on the base due to the weight of articles held in the fingers. The holder in Haskins does not automatically present the tools upon removal of the container's cover. Rather, the user must physically grasp the stem on the holder and pull the stem upwardly to present the tools. The tools are thereafter presented in a substantially vertical orientation relative to the base. By having to reach into the holder to extract held tools, the chances of contamination are greatly increased. Further, when the tools are in the stored position within the container (see FIG. 1), the respective weights thereof tend to draw the top portions of the tools toward the center where they may inadvertently contact one another.
To minimize the risk of contaminating the tools following sterilization, and, to facilitate the extraction thereof, it is desirable to have the tools automatically presented in an outwardly arrayed or frustoconical manner. Neither Nisii nor Haskins provides for the tools to be automatically presented in a splayed manner or frustoconical array. Rather, both display or present the tools in a vertically orientation relative to the base with either the tool heads or tails in close proximity. This is inconvenient and increases the chances of inadvertently touching thereby contaminating adjacent tools.
Moreover, the holder disclosed in Haskins is a solid disc-like structure with no provisions to promote the relative independent movement of the held tools. It is desirable that the held tools be able to move relatively independent of one another in their held positions to decrease the chances of one tool inadvertently contaminating another tool or accidentally puncturing a dentist's glove. Without relative independent movement between adjacent tools, when one tool is removed, any downward force perpendicular to the diaphragm plane, such as that caused by the dentist's hand, will cause other adjacently held tools to be drawn toward the point of application of the force.
Further, when sterilizing held tools such as dental burs, it is necessary that all portions of the bur, specifically the bottom held portions be sterilized otherwise there is a risk that all of the burs will be contaminated. The fingers disclosed in Haskins into which the bottom portions of the articles, i.e. dental burs are held, provide for a firm, flush fit such that if the held articles were to be sterilized or cleansed, the bottom portions thereof would remain unsterilized.
With these problems in mind, it is an object of this invention to provide a device to hold and support plural tiny tools, such as dental burs, and to present the tools, upon demand, in an arrangement providing convenient access to the user and reducing the chances of inadvertent contamination. Such a device will have a flexible diaphragm with characteristics enabling it to change its shape to effect the presentation of held tools.
It is another object of this invention to employ the use of a diaphragm to hold tiny tools, wherein the diaphragm employs a construction to promote the relative independent movement of the held tools. The relative independent movement of the tools while in their held position greatly reduces the chances that adjacent tools may contact one another or be drawn toward a user's hand when a tool is removed.
It is another object of this invention to provide a device to hold and support plural tiny tools (such as dental drill bits) while they are being sterilized and cleaned. Such a device will have holders or collets for receiving and holding each tool, and each collet will have a cross-section which allows for the entire tool, specifically the bottom portions, to be sterilized.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a device to hold, support and present plural tiny tools, which device may be operated using only one hand. Such a device will enhance greatly the convenience with which tools may be inserted and extracted, or loaded and used.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a device for holding and displaying tools which has a reduced height so that such device is more compatible with sterilization and other procedures.
In summary, the invention in its preferred embodiment achieves these and other objects in the form of a tool support and presentation device having a circular base with a central, vertical spindle extending upwardly and a circular or disk-shaped cover with a central, cylindrical barrel designed to mate with the base's spindle. Within the base and extending around the bottom of the spindle is a coil spring. The spring presses upwardly against a flexible, resilient circular disc. This circular disc has flanges that are tucked under the shoulder on the top edge of the base. Collets of square cross section are held within holes in each flange, and each collet holds one tiny tool.
When the cover is removed, the spring urges the resilient circular disc upwardly and the tiny tools splay out to allow easy digital access to each of them. The cover presses the spring down when it is mounted on the vertical spindle, which has a locking protuberance for mating with a slotted key-hole structure in the cover's barrel. When the cover is in place, the tools move to a substantially vertical orientation and the cover prevents them from escaping from the device, despite vibration and movement within their collets. When the device is closed the tools may be cleaned using autoclaving, ultrasonic or other cleaning techniques. During autoclaving, the square cross section collets provide clearance and support for the complete cleaning of the tools, which have substantially cylindrical shafts. Tiny cylindrical tools can be cleaned more efficiently and effectively when held in a collet having a square cross section.
In one embodiment, a hand-held device is provided with a cylindrical base having upwardly extending walls defining an opening, an upwardly extending spindle joined to the base, and a cylindrical cover mounted to the upper end of the spindle. The walls include a recessed portion defining an annular shoulder. A resilient diaphragm spanning the opening defined by the base's walls is fitted at its periphery with an annular ring dimensioned to fit around the base's wall, specifically the recessed portion thereof. The diaphragm is provided with apertures or collets into which tiny tools may be placed. Support structure is provided intermediate the ends of the spindle and supports the diaphragm thereby providing a surface against which the diaphragm may be bent or stretched.
When the annular ring is drawn along the base's wall in the direction of the base, the diaphragm is bent or stretched over the support and the held tools are presented in an outwardly arrayed or splayed manner. The resilience of the diaphragm causes it to rebound or assume its original shape upon cessation of the drawing action by the user. In its original shape, the diaphragm, and particularly the collets, orient the tools in a vertical upright manner. In its flexed shape, the diaphragm is bent or stretched and the tools are presented in a splayed manner.
Embodiments of the present invention may include an offset member mounted around the spindle for rotation thereabout, having radially outwardly extending selection arms or flanges. A tab connected to one of the selection arms may be shifted relative to the base, which cause the selection arms to tilt the individual collets so that the overall height of the device may be reduced.
Usually, dentists wear gloves to protect from viral transmission to/from the patient. With prior art tool support devices having the tool heads packed closely together as they exit the autoclave, often the dentist would have difficulty picking the desired tool without interfering with an adjacent tool. At worst, the glove might be pricked by a sharp adjacent tool, and the prophylactic protection of the glove compromised. With the invented tool support and presentation device, the tools automatically splay for their presentation in a configuration that, while permitting dense packing for autoclaving, yet are automatically and conveniently separated for selective use.
These and additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood after a consideration of the drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment.